An Avalanche of New Regulations You Need to Know About

We should not be surprised that the busy bodies in DC and around the world are not letting a “crisis go to waste,” as Rahm Emanuel infamously stated.

The foremost “crisis” that bureaucrats worldwide are taking advantage of, is the recent hacking and publication of over 130,000 individuals with accounts in offshore jurisdictions.

This event is conveniently feeding the fire of new regulations and laws, which naturally means more power for the government and less privacy for the individual.

In Europe, the offshore hack has helped give political cover for the EU to implement an automatic tax information exchange standard. Basically, an EU version of the loathed US FATCA. Local privacy laws and national sovereignty be damned.

Austria is the one country in the EU that is bucking the trend and attempting to keep its laws that protect individual privacy. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that it will be able to withstand the political pressure of the other 26 EU members for much longer.

The recent push to squash financial privacy extends beyond Europe. The G-20 has recently called for the automatic exchange of financial information between countries to be the new “global standard.”

And in the US there is a flurry of Orwellian-named bills being pushed through the US Congress at the moment.

The Stop Tax Haven Abuse Act, the CUT Unjustified Tax Loopholes Act, the International Tax Competitiveness Act, and the Fairness in International Taxation Act are just a few of the bills that have emerged in the wake of or been given a boost by the offshore leak. More details in the sections below.

That is just a small taste of what is in the works now. Just imagine what future taxes and regulations will look like as the governments of the West get even more desperate.

It is an avalanche that will bury you alive unless you take steps to protect yourself.

So what can you do about it?

I would strongly advise against relying on the political system to reverse the current momentum towards more regulations and taxes, and less privacy.

Many countries in the West are fast approaching or have already crossed the threshold in which more than 50% of the populace is dependent on government handouts in some fashion. Once that happens, political change is pretty much impossible. The chances that the majority will vote to break their own rice bowl is essentially nil.

Fortunately there are still practical and legal measures you can take. Though, if history is any indication, this window will not remain open forever.

In a free Casey Research video, I will be detailing some of these measures along with a number of other experts.